The present invention relates generally to electronic messaging, and in particular to the processing and routing of messages across a network.
As communications increasingly are done electronically, the number of messaging types and devices, as well as the complexity of those messages, is increasing accordingly. Messaging can be done through different messaging channels, such as email, voice messaging, multimedia messaging, video messaging, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), instant messaging, fax, and print exchange messaging. As such, it is desirable to be able to send and/or receive messages using any of the increasing number of channels, as well as to be able to send messages over different channels.
However, communication systems today do not support all of the functions or features that a user may find desirable or useful. For example, today's communication systems and services do not provide a convenient way in which to forward messages across different channels. Furthermore, not all communication channels provide message forwarding, even on the same channel. For example, today's communication services and systems do not provide a way to forward an SMS message. Hence, there is a need for improved methods and systems for forwarding various types of communication messages and, in some cases, across different communication channels.